Obama has an odd take on sequestration

Sen. Joe Lieberman vows to do all he can to make sure that, when Congress returns to work in November, $500 billion more isn't cut from the defense budget as part of a government sequestration set to begin in early January.

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed last week, Lieberman, I-Conn., warned that cutting defense by that amount during the next decade will weaken our military considerably as it tries to deal with current and future challenges. "Contrary to claims that the 'tide of war is receding,'" he wrote, "our national security threats are becoming more complex and no less demanding or urgent."

Why should Lieberman be concerned? After all, during his third debate with Mitt Romney, President Barack Obama said of sequestration: "It will not happen."

That comment had members of the president's team scrambling the next day to explain what Obama really meant (a common practice in this administration). Republican Sen. John McCain made the point that it would take legislation to repeal sequestration - about $1 trillion worth of cuts in government spending during the next decade - and that would require some sort of agreement in Congress.

Speaking of Congress, the president also said sequestration "is not something that I've proposed. It is something that Congress has proposed" ...

McCain says he and other GOP senators "have been begging the president" to sit down and work out a deal. Lieberman clearly is on board. They understand that Obama's debate proclamation means nothing. Instead, only real work from both sides of the aisle can keep sequestration from happening.

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Obama has an odd take on sequestration

Sen. Joe Lieberman vows to do all he can to make sure that, when Congress returns to work in November, $500 billion more isn't cut from the defense budget as part of a government sequestration set to